LABOUR will today grill SNP ministers on dramatic cuts to trading standards services.
MSP Elaine Murray will lead a charge after further drops in the number of qualified officers investigating everything from rogue traders to shops peddling legal highs were revealed.
In a written question, she will ask the government "what action it can take in relation to the reported shortage of trading standards officers in Scotland".
Local authorities have lost one in eight of their trading standards staff since a 2013 watchdog report warned the viability of the service was at threat. Documents from both council umbrella group Cosla and the body representing senior trading standards officers suggest some councils are no longer able to offer a viable service.
Government, Cosla and council officials are currently looking at a major merger of council departments, potentially creating a national service.
Ms Murray said: “Trading standards officers provide an important service both to the public and to legitimate businesses. Cuts to local authority budgets are now seriously constraining councils’ abilities to maintain an effective service and action has to be taken as a matter of urgency.
"The answer is not necessarily a centralised national service; consideration must be given to models which allow flexibility to respond to local concerns and threats.”
Fiona Richardson, chief trading standards officer for Scotland, said: "There seems a general acceptance that some individual trading standards units no longer have the resources or expertise to fulfill their full range of functions."
A briefing paper from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) stressed the need for a new approach.
It said: "Both a Cosla group and a Scottish Government expert panel have expressed broad agreement with the principles of the CTSI vision, namely that the current system in Scotland is broken and that there is a need for structural change."
Alison Johnstone MSP, the Scottish Greens’ local government spokeswoman, said: “Trading standards provide a very important service but it's clear that they are seen as a soft option for councils facing budget pressures. Protecting the public from rogue traders should be a core function, and I would urge Scottish ministers to provide support as we seek a better deal for local government funding.
Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: “Everyone appreciates council budgets are under pressure, and areas like education and social care are of critical importance.
“But that doesn’t mean departments with a lower profile can be cut to the bone.
“It’s crucial rogue traders aren’t allowed to carry on with abandon, and consumers will expect some level of protection on that front from the local authority."
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